A common subject of debate is what school sport is the hardest to play and athletes often get into heated arguments about this subject.

In my experience soccer is the hardest sport to play because of how many dimensions of the game there are to become a good player. You must be physically fit in terms of strength, speed, endurance and agility. On top of this, you have to have superior intelligence to your opponents. This intelligence is needed for every play you make on the field. And finally to be a good soccer player you need to have a high level of skill and technical ability.

Sophomore A.J. Shiflett plays baseball and it is his favorite sport but he agrees that soccer is one of the most physically demanding sports. He said, “Soccer or wrestling are the hardest sports to get in shape for because of the amount of endurance you need.”

Sophomore Argil Bilegsaikhan’s favorite sport is wrestling. He said, “Wrestling is the hardest sport to get in shape for because you have to cut weight and be strong at the same time.”
When it comes to improving at a sport it is also the hardest to improve at soccer. In the soccer community, athletes agree that the best way to improve is actually to play soccer matches. In sports like football, baseball, track and field, and swimming you see these athletes improving in the gym or by themselves. Baseball and football players are mostly training for speed and power, which can be done by themselves in a gym or on a field. In track and field and swimming, athletes mostly practice by themselves.Since the best way to improve in soccer is by playing matches you need to get other players to form those matches. This is hard to do as it depends on other people’s schedules and other factors.

Soccer players need to be able to dribble, shoot, pass and control the ball throughout a game. The reason why soccer players are the most skilled in all sports comes down to the main tool that they use. In basketball, football, tennis, golf, hockey, baseball, and many other sports athletes use their hands as their main tool to perform. They shoot a basketball with their hand, swing a baseball bat using their hand, and hit a hockey puck using their hand to move the stick. However, soccer is different from all of these sports because they use their feet as their main tool. Imagine trying to use a pencil with your hand versus using a pencil with your foot. Obviously, humans have evolved to have more coordination and control through their hands than our feet. Soccer players use the part of the body that humans don’t use on a regular basis for skilled tasks. This is what makes soccer players more skilled.

Sophomore Ryan Kaufman plays soccer. He has a different opinion from many soccer players about what sport requires the most skill to succeed. He said, “Golf requires the most skill of all sports because the consistency, patience, and accuracy to play 18 holes is unmatched.”